National
geographic magazine is positioned to cover virtually all human and natural
phenomena in the world, and its content is inclusive. Therefore, it will choose
the abstract yellow box as the core symbol, because of the abstraction, can
give full play to the reader's imagination.

The
beauty of a brand is not complete but largely determined by its symbol system.
The semiotics aesthetician cahill thinks "art can be defined as a kind of
symbolic language". Symbol is a philosophical concept, referring to words,
language, code, mathematical symbols, chemical symbols, traffic signs and so
on. In daily life, such as the action of greeting, ritual, game, literature,
art, myth and other constituent elements are symbols. Almost all famous brands
have very sharp symbol systems. By the way, such symbol systems may be massive
in architecture, but the information is not necessarily complex or even
minimal. This is directly related to the positioning of each brand.

The
symbol systems of Picasso, van gogh, qi baishi and li keran are different. Or
fierce, or free, or wild, or profound. The symbol systems of li bai, du fu, li
shangyin and wang wei also differ greatly. Or energetic, or gentle tenderness,
or talk about bo mingzhi, or mysterious magnificent. This is essentially the
differentiation of positioning, but it is the differentiation of positioning
that determines the differentiation of the symbol system. Above the symbol, the
aesthetic curtain of the brand also unfolds accordingly.

Strong
commercial brands are actually masters of symbols. Nike's symbol system
revolves around that famous red tick. The logo of Nike company, the pattern is
a small hook, the shape is simple and powerful, as quick as lightning. It makes
people think of the speed and explosive power generated after using Nike sports
products. First named after the "Nike" sneaker, the shoe has a
rectangular bump on the sole to enhance stability, and the sides of the shoe have
curved, symbolizing the wings of the goddess of victory.

Nike
has been sticking around the wings for years in brand communications, and it
has become a strong symbol for Nike. It brought in the advertisement like Andre
・ agassi, bao Jackson and Michael
Jordan sports stars, the sports spirit gives to the wings. Nike's slogan
"just do it" was launched in 1988, which pushed its wing symbol to
the top. It also successfully occupied the market through its representation of
the new generation's lifestyle, and its sales soared. This symbol became a
fashionable popular symbol and became popular all over the world.

The
same goes for cultural and creative brands. National geographic magazine, as
the magazine's pre-eminent brand, developed that yellow box into an extended
and derivative brand asset. National geographic magazine is positioned to cover
virtually all human and natural phenomena in the world, and its content is
inclusive. Therefore, it will choose the abstract yellow box as the core
symbol. It is because of the abstraction that readers can make full use of
their imagination and put all kinds of different information into this basket.

National
geographic explicitly requires that all prints have yellow borders on their
covers. But its location is flexible, ranging from being the same size and
location as national geographic magazine, to being smaller and more flexible.
But anyway, you have to have this little yellow box.

National
geographic has also been working on brand derivatives. Centered around
magazines, the national geographic society offers the following products to the
market: books, journals, photo libraries, education products, maps, TV shows,
websites and CDS, as well as daily necessities and print publications. So
varied are the forms that one thing remains the same: the famous yellow box
will appear on all products. It believes in the power of signs.

You
can't talk about the master of signs without talking about the apple. Apple's
core symbol is, of course, the apple with the bite. But the company's earliest
LOGO was actually a picture of Newton reading a book under an Apple tree, with
a ribbon winding up and down, and the word Apple Computer Co., with an
unusually complex composition. Apple later realized the Newton logo was too
complex to spread, and in 1977 designed a second apple logo, an apple that had
been bitten off. In English, bite is synonymous with Byte, in line with apple's
tech enterprise positioning.

Over
the years, apple has taken pains to print this bite of apple on all kinds of
products, setting up a god-like lifestyle brand in the hearts of apple fans
around the world. Over time, apple's spirit, meaning and charm have been added
to the logo. The apple also became the most famous apple in the world.

The
American film transformers is a master of symbols. In each episode, the robot's
external image is changeable, but its core symbol system is completely
consistent. As a brand implanted in the transformers 4 film, Zhou Black Duck is
not the largest direct investment, but its investment in symbols is quite
amazing. Yeah, I think Zhou Black Duck understands the power of notation. As
far as I'm concerned, it's not just about symbols anymore. In fact, Zhou Black
Duck began to attach great importance to the power of symbols.

The
word "black" of black duck is very graceful. When others contend for
"good", "beautiful" and "fresh" as the standard
but too homogeneous catering brand appeal, Zhou Black Duck bravely chose the
word "black", which is very cattle! Of course, its products are
indeed dark, both in terms of manufacturing process and ingredients, but more
importantly, using "black" in the name of the product is more than
just a description of the product.

It's
fair to say that Zhou Black Duck is delicious, but the talent and investment in
its brand symbols cannot be ignored. So much so that Zhou Black Duck declared
itself the "new calling card" of wuhan pop culture. Later, the
"week duck", "wuhan black duck" and "wuhan week
duck" that have mushroomed generally appear in the shape of gods and
spirits, but actually did not steal Zhou Black Duck many of the limelight.

Zhou
Black Duck claims that after spending seven figures on implants, Zhou Black
Duck only appeared in the transformers 4 film for less than a second,
objectively barely visible at all. Some people say Zhou Black Duck is stupid,
but Zhou Black Duck himself doesn't think so. What Zhou Black Duck really wants
is its sensationalism and the new symbol "lock fresh outfit" of
offline stores. That is to say, when chang4 is released in China, Zhou Black
Duck has completed the "cross-dressing" of its core stores across the
country and decorated with the theme of transformers. What they want is their
own symbol next to the sharp eyes of transformers and combat punches.

From
Picasso to wang wei, from Nike to national geographic, apple, transformers, and
Zhou Black Duck, the power of symbols makes the brand more attractive. Chinese
companies are also generally too sincere or conservative in their brand
thinking. In my opinion, Chinese brand owners clearly need more symbol
thinking.